


After Fire

by isuilde



Category: Free!
Genre: Established Relationship, Firefighter!Makoto, I really have no excuse, Jobs ED AU, M/M, Policeman!Rin, idk why my Rin is so subdued here, let's just say this is how he handles worrying over Makoto?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-03
Updated: 2014-07-03
Packaged: 2018-02-07 06:38:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1888713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isuilde/pseuds/isuilde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Makoto and Rin, and things shared between the aftermath of firefighting and the police investigation starting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	After Fire

**Author's Note:**

> I DON'T EVEN KNOW ANYMORE I JUST NEED TO GET THIS OUT OF MY SYSTEM I AM SO SORRY FOR THE TRASHY QUALITY.
> 
> This is unbeta-ed by the way. ;A; Expect grammar errors everywhere.

“You,” Sousuke says casually as he veers the car sideways and turns right. “Need to calm down, Rin.”

“I am calm,” Rin answers, only the slightest bit terse, and Sousuke barks a laugh, a knowing smirk tugging on the corner of his lips. It kind of irritates Rin a little, so he shoves his best friend anyway, even though he runs a risk of throwing them into a traffic accident. “Shut up.”

“Sure,” Sousuke says lightly, one finger tapping the wheel in his grasp. “It’s pretty much a weekly occurrence for him, though. Gotta admit this one happens pretty early in the morning. It’s what now, eleven?”

“Three hours since the firefighters were called out,” Rin mutters, turning what he wishes looks like an uninterested gaze out the window. “Pretty big fire, I suppose.”

“No news on casualty though, that’s a relief.”

Their radio buzzes, a question from the office regarding their whereabouts, and Rin takes it. “ETA 2 minutes, we can already see the smoke.”

Sousuke whistles lowly as he parks the car, his gaze intent on the firefighters scattered all over the burnt apartment building, either standing idly and looking up at the building nearly obscured in black smoke or sitting down in apparent exhaustion. “Seems like they’re done.”

“It’s gonna take another hour until they deem it safe for us to enter,” Rin says absently, eyes already roaming around to find a certain firefighter. He twists around and grabs a bottle of water from the backseat. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

He opens the door, leaning against the frame and looks around once more, waving his hand dismissively when  Sousuke calls out, “The Superintendent’s going to arrive here in five minutes, you know.”

“Cover for me when he gets here,” and then he sets off, ignoring Sousuke’s shout of “You owe me dinner!” in favor of giving his surroundings a good look. It’s a bit hard to find a specific person in the fire brigade when they’re in action—Makoto might be easy to distinguish thanks to his bulk in normal circumstances, but among the firefighters, he’s just one of the tall, big and muscular men in black and yellow uniforms.

He sighs and looks up. The apartment building is a black, charred mess—metal skeletons creaking ominously, the thick burning scent hanging in the air, the black smoke still raising even though the fire’s supposed to die down. Several firefighters were still running around, shouting instructions and condition reports, but their activities were slowing down. He knows some of those guys were going to get back inside and clean up any dangerous materials that would potentially injure someone before the police force would be allowed to enter the site.

His steps stutter when he catches unruly brown hair on the corner of his eyes. Oh, there he is, sitting on the ground and leaning on the trucks’ tire with his head bowed low.

“Hey,” he says, trying for casual, pushing one hand into his pocket as he walks towards Makoto. “Good work containing the fire.”

Makoto looks up, lines of exhaustion clear in his face despite the way it instantly brightens. He doesn’t stand up though, and Rin just throws him the water bottle he’d brought out of the car, watching Makoto’s expression turns grateful as he catches it.

“Rin,” Makoto acknowledges with his trademark smile when Rin takes a seat next to him. He used to complain whenever Rin does this, claiming that Rin’s uniform would get dirty, that the laundry bills would be killing them next month, but Rin knows Makoto finds it comforting when he sits close, shoulders slightly touching if not pressing. The taller man gestures at the burnt apartment with a nod of his head, and says, “Your case?” 

“Apparently,” Rin says. “Wouldn’t be surprised if it’s an arson.” 

“Mmm,” Makoto says, the trace of exhaustion in his voice. “I got to the point of fire; fifteenth floor, janitor room. Looks like something exploded in there.” He opens the bottle, downs half of it in one go, then pours the rest of it over his head. Water drops in rivulets, running down the tips of his hair, the sides of his face, the lines of his neck, settling in the crook of his shoulder blades. Rin watches, swallows, and tells himself that it’s not the time to get excited for all the wrong reasons, goddammit.

Then again, knowing Makoto’s rarely seen devious streak, he could’ve been doing that in purpose, the bastard. 

“Thanks, Rin,” Makoto smiles, too bright for someone who looks like he could sleep on his feet after three hours of fighting flames. 

They sit there in silence for several moments, before Makoto begins to talk about the fire and the three-hours fight he’d just done with his brigade. Now that he has an excuse to look at Makoto, Rin finally let himself scrunitizing the taller man’s figure, trying to spot any injuries he might have suffered. The water he poured just now didn’t help with the soots streaking all over his face—he looks a bit like a chimney sweep, actually, only five thousand times hotter than he’s supposed to be. He moves okay, though, hands animating whatever it is he’s talking about, and Rin is only half-listening, managing to make vague noises in the right places, but he’s sure Makoto knows that, sure that Makoto’s only talking now to let him look properly, and that means Makoto is okay. 

Good, then. 

“Wanna grab lunch after?” Rin says in the end, when Makoto’s concluded his newest battle tale. “Late lunch, I mean, the investigation’s gonna take hours.” 

“That sounds great,” Makoto grins. “I still have to go inside again to make sure it’s safe, and I could definitely do with a nap after while I wait for you. Haru’s?” 

“Haru’s,” Rin nods, and that’s when his cell buzzes: a message from Sousuke that the Superintendent’s arrived, and they’re going to put up police lines. He sighs. “Right, I still have work.” 

“The report from the fire brigade should be done by the end of the day, Nakamura-san’s already working on it,” Makoto supplies. He smiles at Rin as Rin rises to his feet, dusting dirt from his trousers, and follows Rin’s lead, standing up himself. 

Rin looks up at him, takes in the scent of burning metal that mixes with the more familiar scent of Makoto now that they’re standing so close, and thinks _oh, fuck it_ , before bringing his hand up to touch Makoto’s cheek and swipes his thumb on the soot covering the skin. It smears, leaving black on the tip of his thumb, and Rin is making it worse, but at least Makoto’s smile changes, this time more affectionate and tender, eyes never leaving Rin’s. 

“Thank you, Rin.” 

Rin hears, _thank you for checking up on me, for letting me talk, for the water bottle, for being there_ , and _I’m sorry I worried you_. A smirk tugs on the corner of his lips, one eyebrow raising at Makoto. “When you’re done playing superhero, please don’t bring the hose over to Haru’s.” 

Makoto laughs. “I’ll see you at lunch.” And there it is, that particular flash in his eyes when he think he’s going to say something that would make Rin blush. “Work hard, Officer Matsuoka.” 

Rin most definitely doesn’t blush. Or get turned on. At all. 

**\-----o0o-----**


End file.
